Anonymous wrote:At Cal Poly it was *all* foodcourt-style restaurants — no all-you-can-eat dining hall. I’m not sure how many were actual chain restaurants and how many were just styled that way, but that lack of a cafeteria dug a pretty deep hole for the school in our kids’ minds.

This has been something I had to get used to too, OP, while starting to do college tours with my 17yo this past year. I feel like my DD would live at places like Panda Express and eat greasy, fried orange chicken seven days a week if she could. So it is a concern of mine. I went to Notre Dame where everything in the (unlimited) dining hall was made by ND Dining Services, so all these chains and food courts are def not what I felt was the norm! Also, I feel like it reduces community: my friends and I always walked in a big group to go eat. What do today’s kids do it someone wants to go to the poke place, someone else wants to go to Chick fil A, someone else wants to do Pizza Hut? I guess I am a dinosaur.

At Cal Poly it was *all* foodcourt-style restaurants — no all-you-can-eat dining hall. I’m not sure how many were actual chain restaurants and how many were just styled that way, but that lack of a cafeteria dug a pretty deep hole for the school in our kids’ minds.

Anonymous wrote:I went to Duke and when I was there we had a BK but everything else fit your description. I was fine with there being one place like that (the main people who ate there were university employees), but agree that that being the primary option is not good.

That being said, Duke now has a super gourmet food area that I find even more troubling. I agree with you that the mediocre/average dining halls are part of the college experience, rather than poke bowls and countless other high end options. Students on limited budgets are apparently not thrilled at the lack of reasonably priced options.

I think theres an argument that if the food on campus is really good, it eliminates the need to ever go off campus. And FA can work out how to pay for that.

Anonymous wrote:Call me a grumpy East Coast Gen X snob (graduate of college with older traditional campus) but it really got to me seeing places like Chik-Fil-A at Georgetown and some other campuses. I liked the beat-up on-campus non-chain college cafes or dives where they served burgers, sandwiches, etc. and coffee. I understand there’s a business reason for it, but still…

I agree, but speaking as a person who has had a cheeseburger at Georgetown dining hall in last month, ugh. Give me the fast food

The schools evolve to accommodate the demands and palate of the students. Lots of kids were raised on Chick Fil-A or pizza as they were rushed around from home to sports, tutoring, violin practice, etc. Others were raised to be gluten free, vegan, pescatarian, etc. When kids visit campus, they want the reassurance of finding food they like and a touch point that is familiar - it's a big deal. So, whether that's a chicken sandwich or a poke bowl, it's part of the recruitment and retention strategy. On one of our campus tours, they took the parents coffee shop order so we could pick up our complimentary beverage at the local coffee house on campus. Like OP, that appealed to our Gen X memories. To our daughter, it was nothing special. She was happy to see the Panda Express.

We like healthy food but sometimes campus food is also unhealthy slop, so places like Chick Fil A are a welcome treat. Mine don’t go there all the time bc they respect the budget. Nice to have for a change. I’d love to see a Sweetgreen nearby too, even better for a treat.

Anonymous wrote:I went to Duke and when I was there we had a BK but everything else fit your description. I was fine with there being one place like that (the main people who ate there were university employees), but agree that that being the primary option is not good.

That being said, Duke now has a super gourmet food area that I find even more troubling. I agree with you that the mediocre/average dining halls are part of the college experience, rather than poke bowls and countless other high end options. Students on limited budgets are apparently not thrilled at the lack of reasonably priced options.

I appreciate the bigger variety of vegetarian options and other options that accommodate the kids’ different dietary/religious needs/preferences. However, I don’t think they need a gelato counter or poke bowls or any other high end food. Even when I attended a rural LAC 30 years ago, there were enough (economical) options for vegetarians- pasta, salad bar, a vegetarian main each night, and a sandwich area.

I went to Duke and when I was there we had a BK but everything else fit your description. I was fine with there being one place like that (the main people who ate there were university employees), but agree that that being the primary option is not good.

That being said, Duke now has a super gourmet food area that I find even more troubling. I agree with you that the mediocre/average dining halls are part of the college experience, rather than poke bowls and countless other high end options. Students on limited budgets are apparently not thrilled at the lack of reasonably priced options.

The bright side is my son wants no fast food while home this summer.

Anonymous wrote:Call me a grumpy East Coast Gen X snob (graduate of college with older traditional campus) but it really got to me seeing places like Chik-Fil-A at Georgetown and some other campuses. I liked the beat-up on-campus non-chain college cafes or dives where they served burgers, sandwiches, etc. and coffee. I understand there’s a business reason for it, but still…

I didn’t see too many fast food places in the Berkeley downtown area which is right by campus. Not sure about their dining hall scene. But Berkeley has a lot of independent cafes and restaurants ranging from grungy to high end. Not sure why East Coast gets totally taken over by chains

I was surprised, too, that many of the larger schools feel like shopping mall food courts. Its fine, I guess, but after visiting several schools this spring, they all started to blend into each other. Fewer quirky places with local character, and more Panda Expresses.

I'm GenX (born 1975) and we had fast food on our (California State) campus. It was a food court with Taco Bell, Panda Express and Chick Fil A.

Agree, I love the charm and character of for old campuses and as many local shops as possible.

Call me a grumpy East Coast Gen X snob (graduate of college with older traditional campus) but it really got to me seeing places like Chik-Fil-A at Georgetown and some other campuses. I liked the beat-up on-campus non-chain college cafes or dives where they served burgers, sandwiches, etc. and coffee. I understand there’s a business reason for it, but still…